Inversion
Staff Thermal Engineer
Playa Vista, California, United States · Staff+
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 40 days ago
SparkLogisticsANSYSThermal AnalysisAvionicsMechanical DesignAerospace EngineeringActuators
About the role
- These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds.
- Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications.
- You will define the thermal architecture for our hypersonic reentry vehicles to ensure structures, avionics, payloads, and mechanical flight controls survive extreme reentry environments.
Responsibilities
- In this role, you will be the primary technical authority on spacecraft thermal design, modeling, and thermal protection system (TPS) sizing.
- You will lead complex multi-physics analysis efforts, establish company-wide thermal standards, mentor senior engineers, and translate high-level program requirements into validated, flight-ready thermal control systems.
- Define the overall spacecraft thermal control system (TCS) architecture and design standards across all product lines.
- Lead high-fidelity, transient thermal analysis including 3D conjugate heat transfer (CHT) modeling, aerodynamic heating boundary conditions, and internal radiative/conductive heat transfer.
- Own the sizing, selection, and structural interface design of thermal protection systems (TPS) and internal insulation materials.
- Analyze and optimize thermal conductances of structural joints, mechanical isolators for flap actuators, and electronic compartment packaging.
- Partner directly with the aerothermal, structures, GNC, and propulsion teams to execute multi-disciplinary design trade studies and vehicle performance optimizations.
- Establish thermal testing standards and lead thermal vacuum (TVAC) and high-temperature material testing qualification campaigns.
- Correlate thermal models against flight and ground test data, including arc-jet testing, to reduce modeling uncertainty and validate designs.
- Mentor senior and mid-level engineers across the organization on first-principles thermal design, analysis tools, and best practices.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or equivalent technical experience.
- Typically 8 + years of experience in thermal design, modeling, and analysis of high-temperature aerospace vehicles, such as launch vehicles, reentry capsules, satellites, or tactical hardware.
- Expertise in industry-standard thermal analysis software, such as Thermal Desktop, ANSYS Thermal, or equivalent tools.
- Strong foundational knowledge of multi-physics heat transfer (conduction, radiation, high-speed convection) and thermodynamics.
Company info
- Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space.
- Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain.
- We see space not as a destination, but as a platform - one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach.
- Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision.
- Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what's possible in space-based defense and logistics.
- As a Staff Thermal Engineer at Inversion, you will report directly to the Senior Manager of Arc Vehicle Reentry.
- Required Qualifications
Apply directly at Inversion →Create a free account for alerts like thisView Inversion immigration profile
This listing is sourced directly from Inversion's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.